1. Field of Invention
The present utility model relates to a tablet cassette for an automatic tablet sorting and counting machine, and more specifically to an improved tablet cassette which is capable of facilitating a tablet packaging operation in a packaging unit by supplying to an output port of a drum as much quantity as instructed in a prescription, in correspondence to information input to the automatic tablet dispenser.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, automatic tablet dispensers are employed in hospitals and drugstores to automate the output and assembly of corresponding tablets when the prescription is input into a computer, and serves to dispense the per-dosage assembled tablets.
Such an automatic tablet dispensing system includes: a main computer for enabling an appropriate prescription on the basis of proper medicine, intake method, daily intake frequency and intake duration depending upon each patient; a tablet dropping unit having a plurality of tablet cassettes and a drum for storing therein and releasing therefrom the tablets in correspondence to the prescription set up in the computer; and a packaging unit disposed below the tablet dropping unit and serving to package the output tablets and releasing the same to an exterior of the automatic tablet dispenser.
The packaging unit is made up of: a release hopper for assembling the tablets being dropped from the tablet drop unit; a heater assembly for packaging the tablets being discharged through the release hopper; a printer for printing respective information on packaging paper; and a release conveyer for externally discharging the medicine bags containing tablets.
Meanwhile, a tablet cassette serves to discharge to-be-packaged tablets on the basis of information input in the main computer. In general, the tablet cassette is comprised of a driving unit, a tablet case and a rotor, wherein the conventional tablet cassette includes a slanted rotor which rotates in accordance with the driving unit while contained in the tablet cassette.
Although a predetermined space sufficient to house the tablets therein is provided from the bottom surface of the tablet case, the room for the rotor and tablet case relatively becomes narrow due to the assembly clearance which occurs during the assembly of the driving unit, medicine case and rotor, thereby disadvantageously incurring difficulty in tablet release.
That is, a space is provided between a plurality of guide teeth formed along the outer periphery of the rotor, wherein the tablets are flowed into the space one by one and released by the rotor through the outlet and the hopper formed in the medicine case and the driving unit onto the drum.
As described above, the tablets should be smoothly supplied using the rotor rotated by the motor while contained in the medicine case but the conventional system has a disadvantage in that, since the space between the rotor and the medicine case cannot be constantly maintained during the assembly or for other reasons, a timely release of the tablets may not be accomplished resulting from jamming or tangling when the tablets in the medicine case are supplied toward the rotor.
In particular, the identical medicine cases are provided in fixed measurement regardless of tablet size, thereby differentiating quantity received in each case depending upon tablet sorts and size and accordingly requiring frequent tablet supplementation.
Further, when a large quantity of tablets are contained resulting from smallness of the tablets, the release duration becomes relatively larger, whereby the contained tablets may be subject to moisture and deformation.